Eric Holder just issued a huge blow to the drug war. This is big. 

Today the Justice Department barred local and state police from using a federal program to seize a person’s property without evidence of a crime. 

That might sound odd, since you would assume that it was already illegal in America for police to take your property without due process – but you would be wrong. Originally pushed in the 1980s as a way to combat illegal drugs, civil asset forfeiture has become common throughout the country. 

Today people all over America who are simply suspected of drug law violations can have their assets seized without any ability to defend themselves in a court of law. Even if they are never convicted, or even charged with a crime they can have their property, bank accounts, cars, and assets taken from them forever. If this doesn’t enrage you, I don’t know what will. 

Civil asset forfeiture is another ugly aspect of the drug war, and here at the Drug Policy Alliance we are making it a top issue in 2015. 

If you stand with us tweet out your support now to end unjust civil asset forfeiture for good!

Today’s actions by Eric Holder are a good first step to ending the unjust enforcement of this program once and for all. But now Congress needs to pass legislation to make this change permanent.

Apparently the DEA is still able to use civil forfeiture and how many drug raids have you heard about that the DEA was not involved in ? So is this just another  smoke and mirrors edict… so that all the funds from civil forfeitures will go to the FEDS and the FEDS will just keep all the money/assets or just redistribute monies back to the state and local parts of the judicial system ?

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I did not create the video… This is a video that is sarcasm and a parody about what healthcare professionals have to put up with addicts/diverters  and all the shenanigans they will try to get their hands on some controlled meds .. particularly opiates. This is representative of the “other side of the coin” why legit pts are being denied and turned away.. and they can’t figure out why.  Unfortunately, all too many healthcare professionals are tired of trying to figure how between the legit and bogus pts and have taken the stance that it is easiest to JUST SAY NO !

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Florida’s latest execution ties record

Johnny Kormondy’s execution will be Rick Scott’s 21st

http://www.news4jax.com/news/floridas-latest-execution-ties-record/30744316

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –

Johnny Shane Kormondy was set to be executed at 6 p.m. Thursday. His execution is Gov. Rick Scott’s 21st, tying a record for the number of executions under one governor in modern times.

Scott accomplished the feat in just over four years, while it took Jeb Bush twice as long.

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Race on the high seas: Cartels feature new, faster smuggling boats

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/16/race-on-high-seas-cartels-feature-new-faster-smuggling-boats/

Latin America’s drug cartels are leaving the U.S. Coast Guard in their wake, with new and faster speedboats law enforcement officials say are virtually undetectable by radar.

The new boats, nicknamed “Picudas,” after a tropical fish whose long, thin bodies they resemble, are made of fiberglass, making them invisible to radar and efficient with fuel. While older smuggling vessels took as long as three days to make the trip from Costa Rica to Jamaica, the Picuda can make the trip in two

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What Good Is A Pot-Sniffing Dog When Pot Is Legal?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2015/01/15/what-good-is-a-pot-sniffing-dog-when-pot-is-legal/

Testifying before a House subcommittee last year, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration warned that marijuana legalization is bad for dogs. DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart was talking about pets that inadvertently eat cannabis-infused snacks. But she could have been referring to marijuana-detecting police dogs, which face an uncertain future in jurisdictions where a whiff of pot is no longer evidence of a crime.

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Rand Paul Slams the Disabled, Says More than Half are ‘Gaming the System’

http://ringoffireradio.com/2015/01/rand-paul-slams-the-disabled-says-more-than-half-are-gaming-the-system/

Start your betting journey with free online slots. As a beginner, you should minimize your gambling spending until you become professional and familiar with many of these slot games(click here to know how to play slot games – https://www.slotsformoney.com). At a breakfast with New Hampshire state legislative leaders, probable 2016 GOP presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (KY) attacked Americans receiving disability payments, saying that they were gaming the system.

“The thing is, in all of these programs, there’s always somebody who’s deserving. But everybody in this room knows somebody who is gaming the system,” said Paul. “What I tell people is, if you look like me and you hop out of your truck, you shouldn’t be getting your disability check. Over half the people on disability are either anxious or their back hurts. Join the club!”

Of course, once video of Paul’s remarks started to make the rounds online, the senator’s office whipped out the standard “my remarks were taken out of context” defense that the GOP uses anytime one of its members says something offensive that they actually believe.

I wonder how many in the chronic pain community are on disability because they are unable to get adequate pain management and have been forced to be on Medicare disability by the DEA’s policies and their war on drugs/pts.

Paul is a potential Presidential candidate and leans toward the libertarian political point of view … IMO… his opinion on the disabled …could bury any chance of getting elected or.. if we could get his attention.. and commitment to get rid of the war on drugs… and get the DEA/DOJ out of interfering with the practice of medicine.. could get a lot of support behind him…  If you are on disability because you can’t get your pain adequately treated… would you vote for a candidate that could help you get adequate treatment so that you could go back to work ?

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Drs who prescribe large amounts of narcotics are ” red flagged” are constantly being watched and are constantly being investigated. I had a rheumatologist who lost his license for over prescribing narcotics. Two days later he committed suicide. I have had RA since childhood. Every lab test was quite clear for this with all the classic objective symptoms. The most narcotic pain med he ever prescribed for me was hydrocodone 7.5 1-2 tabs a day as needed, only during flares. Now the remaining rheumatologist in this city do not want to prescribe narcotics.

OVER PRESCRIBING is such a nebulous term.. Especially if it is determine by those in the judicial system with no medical background… just a badge, ego and an agenda..

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http://youtu.be/yIhapZtDdMM

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Consumer: Costco gave my mom the wrong pills

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/health/Consumer-Costco-gave-my-mom-the-wrong-pills-288488571.html?tab=video&c=y

A representative of Costco from their corporate office responded Wednesday to our request for comment, providing the following statement:

“While I cannot speak to any specifics of the details contained in your story, I can tell you Costco takes these matters very serious. 

We have internal policies and procedures designed to prevent errors from happening and should one occur we have procedures in place to investigate and find potential ways to prevent them from happening again in the future.

We are actively investigating these two reported incidents and once completed will take the aforementioned steps to find a solution to prevent future occurrences.”

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While waiting for my lunch order to be brought to our table.. I was flipping thru my emails on my phone… trying to delete the trash/spam from the 70 odd emails in the inbox.. and abruptly stopped at this one.. From a pharmacist friend and started reading… the last sentence really pissed me off… because another suicide caused by the good ole boys at the DEA.  Isn’t assisted suicide a crime ? Here is the definition of  Genocide is the systematic murder or destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Maybe the “killing off” of the disabled in this country that is “taxing” our Medicare/Medicaid healthcare system is not a genocide.. just a thinning of the heard or survival of the fittest .. sort of dog -eat -dog.  As in this case… this person.. was just allowed to do herself in and just “vanish from the radar ”  Since she wasn’t a celebrity.. no big fuss…

Perhaps everyone needs to reread this post from back in Aug 2014.. showing how the DOJ is imposing its moral beliefs on our society with intimidation…

Does this sound familiar ?

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